New from Cambridge University Press!

Edited By Keith Allan and Kasia M. Jaszczolt

This book "fills the unquestionable need for a comprehensive and up-to-date handbook on the fast-developing field of pragmatics" and "includes contributions from many of the principal figures in a wide variety of fields of pragmatic research as well as some up-and-coming pragmatists."

Pronoun Envy is an analysis of the role of the treatment of Gender inEnglish and French texts published over the last 20 years. In particular,it is an evaluation of linguistic complexities of these texts and theireffect on 'character development and moral ideological purpose' (2001:9).The central theme of the book is an attempt to show to what extent thepronominal gender system in French and English can be said to be in theprocess of reanalysis. In addition, the author addresses the question ofwhether the gender markers are being 'jettisoned as junk'.

This book could be used in Language and Gender classes because of thein-depth explanation and review of works done in language and genderstudies. It offers a simple yet informative introduction to pronominalstudies in French and English. The translation of French into English isvery useful as it allows readers without knowledge a French an insight intoFrench language system.

Chapter 1 introduces the terminology that is used through out the book. Italso makes useful distinctions between different kinds of linguisticanalysis and the distinction between sex and gender.

Chapter 2 is an analysis of Anne Garreta's novel, Sphinx that is treated asa lesbian novel. The analysis involves the examination of the extent towhich gender is marked in French. This chapter focuses on the techniquesavailable in French for gender avoidance. In addition, Livia examines theuse of these strategies and how they affect other devices such as cohesionand empathy. She concludes that the gender system is so entrenched inFrench such that it cannot be avoided without causing problems.

Chapter 3 is an examination of how ineffective strategies such asrepetition of proper name (to avoid gender marking), lexical substitutionand ellipsis are in English. Livia argues that in English texts, where thenarrator is first person, the amount of disturbance is not the same as thatof third person.

Chapter 4, unlike the other two chapters, examines lexical innovations inliterary experiments where attempts are made to highlight the feminine.This is done through literature review of Monique Wittig's works. Thischapter serves to answer the question of whether the use of non-genderedpronoun (by Wittig) in French is a 'reanalysis' or whether it is 'anephemeral and momentary resuscitation'2001:85). Livia claims that althoughcritics of Wittig suggested that there are no animate masculine referentsin Le Corps Lesbien, her analysis of this text revealed that they do exist.She argues however, that the presence of animate masculine referents is nota failure rather an indication that Wittig was successful in making'feminine generic' since the readers assumed that all referents werefeminine. She concludes that linguistic change must go hand in hand withsocial change.

Chapter 5 is an analysis of Wittig's L'Opponex, which is told in thirdperson singular. This chapter opens with a definition of the functions ofthe non-gendered French pronoun 'on'. The author does this by drawing fromdifferent French texts. Livia claims that since the use of 'on' implyindirectness or indefiniteness, it obliges the reader to examine context inorder to identify the correct referent. Having considered many aspects ofthe text such as deictics, tense, episode etc., Livia concludes that theuse of 'on' in Wittig's works disturbed textual cohesion, focalization andnarrator empathy.

In Chapter 6 Livia studies the writings of American novelist such as UrsulaK Le Gruin, Dorothy Briant, June Arnold and Marge Piercey. These novels,which are science fiction, involve invented pronouns and draw from thetraditional pronominal paradigm. Livia also examines whether the use of'one' in English texts has the same effects as the French 'on'. Sheconcludes that experiments with different pronouns in English indicateinadequacies in the existing language system.

Chapter 7 discusses the role of people who find themselves, 'not on thelosing side of gender binary but invisible to it'. The analysis is done byexamining the pronouns used by narrators who have undergone a 'sex change 'or 'sex reassignment'. These narrators are transsexuals, hermaphrodites andgays. Livia argues that these individuals propose a larger problem fortheories of gender fluidity. Unlike the other chapters, this chapter dealswith how gender markings cannot be used without some modification whenreferring to such people. She also discusses language change in referringto people who undergo sex change. Livia concludes that both English andFrench have complex morphological tense and aspect system that coulddistinguish 'anteriority, simultaneity and posteriority ... whereas genderis encoded morphologically as binary' (2001:166). This binary coding isseen as a gap in the common perception of gender.

Chapter 8 is a concluding chapter. It addresses the question of whether thecurrent state of gender system (i.e. their redundancy) in French andEnglish are treated as excess baggage or reanalyzed as performing newfunctions. It is argued that these systems may not be termed 'reanalysis'due to the fact that they may also convey focalization, empathy andcohesive text. Livia concludes that the various procedures discussed in thebook do not crash the language system (of French and English) as the textsare readable, they rather insert a question mark.

The book has been successful in indicating similarities between English andFrench gender systems and to what extent innovations affect the readers'perceptions of gender markings. The discussion of literary experiments thatfocus on creating feminine, unmarked generic pronouns emphasize the growinginterest in linguistic gender.

Mantoa Rose Smouse is a Linguistics graduate student at the University ofFlorida, Gainesville.